Rafa Benitez Claims Newcastle Deserved at Least a Point Against Tottenham After Opening Day Defeat

Rafa Bentitez was of the mind that Newcastle deserved at least a point for their performance in their 2-1 defeat to Tottenham at St James' Park on Saturday.

During a frantic nine minute spell early in the opening term the Magpies twice found themselves behind after Jan Vertonghen and Dele Alli headed home either side of Joselu's goal.

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And while Spurs dominated much of the first 45, it was all Newcastle in the second as both Mohamed Diame and Salomon Rondon hit the woodwork as the Magpies looked to take advantage of the visitors' weary legs.

However, while the reward for effort on the scoreboard failed to materialise, Benitez insisted he was more than happy with his side's performance.

"From my point of view we deserved at least a draw," Benitez told Sky Sports following the match.

"We were pushing them all the way. We were fighting until the end and we had some chances, especially in the second half against a good team. You could feel the fans had the belief that we could do something, so it was a pity."

Another positive which emerged from the game was the healthy level of competition for places in attack, with Joselu fighting alongside new summer additions Rondon and Yoshinori Muto for a starting berth.

"It's always important for the strikers to score. When you bring in new players it increases the competition, which was the idea," he added.

"Also you can see the new players will need some time to understand their team-mates and what we want them to do but at least we have the competition. Joselu scored a great goal and that's really good for the rest of the season because they will be pushing each other."

The Magpies will now turn their attention to Cardiff City next week in their pursuit of their first three points of the season.

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